the two party political system...

[gasior]

is totally fucked, and too many people think that the only legitimate way to create change is by playing within the lines that were drawn almost 230 years ago. this is misguided, and i think fairly obvious. if it was possible to create change from within the system, i think that almost two and a half centuries of existance would have changed

Comments

[beastmario]

I still don't think it's fair to say that if something hasn't happened in the last 230 years that it won't happen now. The world today is completely different in almost every regard to how it was 230 ago. Hell, the world today is ridiculously different than it was at the turn of the century 7 years ago. A amount of influence the internet has on every aspect of our life is crazy. In fact, it's such a new thing that I don't think we can fully comphrend the effects it will have on our society. However, the people who will determine the future are the ones who realize that the internet is where the key to the future lies. Think of how computers have affected the way we function at even the most fundamental levels and how that is affecting us as a culture. When that's taken into consideration, I don't think anything, including electing a third part candidate, is out of the question.

Additionally, I think the reason why third parties are successful is because they aren't sensationalist enough. Let's face it, in the society we live in, the story about Britney Spears or Anna Nicole will always be read before the story about Iraq or a political candidate. We love our celebrities. So, yes, you're correct in saying that the media is unfairly balanced against third party candidates, but I don't think it has to be that way. One of the factors that got Jesse Ventura elected was that he was a sensationalist celebrity, and while that may not have worked out so hot for MN, it DID get a third party candidate elected. The first step to getting a third party politican is getting him recognized as a candidate, which means raising brand awareness. And while the statement is exactly true in this case, I can't but think that "there is no such thing as bad publicity."

Let's face it, the reason why we know the major two party candidates so well right now is because they're on the news. Third party candidates need to get themselves on there.

[gasior]

news media in this country (at least news media that gets paid attention to) is for profit in this country. rupert murdoch, ted turner, and whoever happens to head disney (they own ABC). do you really think they're going to give airtime to someone who wants to tax the fuck out of them?

probably not. enough said.